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Until now, an illegal trading technique called "spoofing" has been associated with two-bit commodities outfits and lone wolf traders operating in the shadows of the markets.

But prosecutors revealed on Monday that their investigations have hit the big time.

Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC will collectively pay nearly $47 million to settle civil regulatory charges that some of their traders engaged in spoofing in precious metals. Deutsche Bank will pay $30 million and UBS $15 million of that total in a wide-reaching investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that also names six individuals. HSBC will pay $1.6 million. All three banks cooperated with the probe.

In addition, the Justice Department said Monday it has charged eight individuals with crimes related to deceptive trading, including seven who have been charged with spoofing. Five of these people were employees of global financial institutions, two were traders at large commodities trading firms and one owned a technology consulting firm.

Spoofing involves placing buy and sell orders with the intent to cancel them before completing the transactions. The orders create the illusion of demand, which distorts prices in a way that benefits the trader's positions. So-called high-frequency trading, in which traders use computers to rapidly trade in and out of positions, has been a focus of investigators.

The traders named individually, ranging in age from 30 to 55, face accusations they manipulated various futures markets, including S&P index and precious metals, by placing hundreds, in some cases thousands, of "spoof" orders to induce other market participants to trade at prices, quantities or times they otherwise would not have traded, the Justice Department said.